CB Chris Owens can fill big need for Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs ran into some trouble last season when opposing offenses flooded the field with wide receivers. The Chiefs had Sean Smith, Brandon Flowers and Marcus Cooper as their top three cornerbacks, but finding a fourth player to cover was difficult. They tried veteran Dunta Robinson early in the season, but found him lacking and he was released after the end of the season.

"I’m comfortable [covering] the slot and I’m comfortable [covering outside receivers], so I’m just going to go in and do whatever I’m asked to do to the best of my abilities,” Owens said this week.

The Chiefs prefer larger cornerbacks and Owens, at 5-foot-9 and 180 pounds, isn't very big. So the Chiefs will ask him to cover a slot receiver, something he's done well during his career.

One of Owens' interesting statistics is that he had 2.5 sacks last season in his 12 games with the Browns. The Browns found him to be effective when he blitzed from the slot and the Chiefs might plan to occasionally use him that way as well.

In 2010, the Chiefs used Javier Arenas, their nickel back of similar size to Owens, to blitz frequently. He had three sacks that season.